Take me to the river

Author: Brian Johnston
Photography: Tom Bingham

3:59PM, Nov 15, 2013

A flotilla of river-cruise vessels will set sail next year
with new itineraries to meet record demand, writes Brian
Johnston.

Fancy floating through the birch forests of Russia, the misty
Yangtze gorges or the lavender-scented hills of southern France?
Though far from home, the fellow passengers are likely to be
familiar. Australians are filling river-cruise ships to their ever
more luxurious gunwales; nearly 40,000 of us bobbed along a river
on holiday last year, a 12 per cent rise on the year before. When
US-based Avalon Waterways launched the 166-passenger Avalon
Panorama in 2011 for service on the Danube, Rhine and Main rivers,
half its cabins were snapped up by Australians.

Since 2007, in fact, the market among Australians has more than
tripled and it remains the fastest growing form of cruising. Demand
is so high, river-cruise companies are scrambling to build or buy
new ships for next season's sailings, pressing them into fresh
itineraries and arranging new shore excursions.

An entire flotilla sets sail on European rivers in 2014.
Uniworld's new 159-passenger Catherine will ply the rivers of
Burgundy and Provence, and APT's new AmaSonata and AmaReina will be
seen on the Rhine and Danube. Avalon launches three ships;
Evergreen Tours and Tauck two each. Scenic Tours adds Scenic Gem
and Scenic Jade to the riverine jostle, while the line also floats
two new ships under its freshly minted subsidiary Emerald
Waterways, which is aimed at a younger, more value-oriented
market.

The world's biggest river-cruise company, Viking River Cruises,
meanwhile, launches 14 ships next year with a collective capacity
for about 2,380 passengers, bringing the number of new ships Viking
has introduced in the past three years to 30.

Operators say passengers appreciate the convenience of river
cruises - essentially trips on floating hotels from which cities
and regions can be explored without daily packing, food-finding or
monotonous days at sea.

A move to all-inclusive packages has provided extra encouragement,
and recent advances in ship design that maximise limited space have
produced more on-board facilities.

APT and Uniworld's new ships have heated swimming pools, for
example. Viking's Longships have all-weather indoor-outdoor lounges
and dining areas with retractable walls of glass. Scenic Tours has
spent $10 million on refurbishing its ships; cabins have sunrooms
that can be transformed to open balconies at the buzz of a
button.

And staterooms are generally getting bigger. Tauck's new vessells
Inspire and Savor are said to have more than double the number of
suites (instead of smaller staterooms) than its existing ships; the
new suites have walk-in wardrobes, French balconies and marble
bathrooms with double vanities.

Since luxury often equates with space, river ships are constrained
by their boutique dimensions, especially in low-bridged,
narrow-locked Europe. Attention has turned instead to adding
details such as espresso machines, quality bathroom products and a
finer dining experience. Next year, APT introduces intimate,
private dining at a chef's table, with a six-course dégustation and
free-flowing wine. Its new "Royal Experience" in Europe-wide
cruises includes dinner with Princess Heide von Hohenzollern in a
castle in Andernach, Germany, visits to Michelin-starred
restaurants and truffle hunting.

Onshore excursions are becoming increasingly varied, reflecting
the younger more adventurous clientele of river cruising. Uniworld
and Tauck have itineraries suitable for children and families,
unheard of five years ago. Options for unescorted shore excursions
are also common. APT's Freedom of Choice sightseeing offers
flexibility; some ships carry bicycles, allowing guests to pedal on
riverside paths. And Scenic Tours has launched GPS-guided tours
enabling passengers to walk in the steps of Mozart through Vienna,
or channel van Gogh on an art trail in Arles.

There's more good news for river cruisers. New itineraries in 2014
include Scenic Tours' 20-day journey on the Danube from Passau in
Germany to the Black Sea, and APT's 35-day land, river and
Trans-Siberian train expedition that takes in Finland, the Baltic
states, Russia and Mongolia. CroisiEurope is launching six- and
eight-day cruises from Frankfurt, as well as a nine-day Amsterdam
to Avignon cross-continent odyssey that links the North Sea with
the Mediterranean.

France, however, is seeing the most river-cruise action. A few
years ago, Tauck didn't operate there; in 2014 it will offer seven
itineraries, including cruises themed for art and food lovers.
Scenic Tours will introduce an 11-day Gems of the Seine round trip
from Paris, with highlights including Monet's gardens at Giverny
and the local castles, and the D-Day beaches of Normandy. Uniworld
is sending the River Royale along the Garonne, Gironde and Dordogne
rivers on an eight-day Bordeaux cruise. And Viking has a new
eight-day program in Bordeaux and Aquitaine that covers wine
regions such as Médoc, Sauternes and Margaux on the Viking Forseti,
the first of its Longships deployed in France.

Europe is river-cruise central, but the trend is shifting
worldwide. Uniworld has a new luxury 12-day Treasures of China
cruise on the Yangtze. Orient-Express launched Orcaella on the
Irrawaddy River in Burma in July, with seven- and 11-night cruises
stopping at small towns not visited by its existing fleet. Pandaw
launches two ships in Burma next year, while APT will operate Queen
of the Mississippi through America's Deep South in 2014 for the
first time, and has doubled departures on Zambezi Queen on
Botswana's hippo-heavy Chobe River. There's never been a better
time to go with the flow.